Legal Question in Employment Law in New York
A filmaker I know has accused me of defamation of character because of a bad review that written about his film on a public website and I linked to my Facebook page. Can he sue me for defamation of character based on this?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Truth is an absolute defense to claims of slander and libel. So long as your statements were true, you should not have a problem. As a film maker, he is probably a public figure, so he would have to prove malice and lack of truthfulness to win. Of course, an opinion is only an opinion. If your opinion was that the film was bad, you have a right to that opinion. If you called the film maker names or disparaged him based on race, sex, national origin, etc., that would possibly be an issue. Without knowing what you actually said, it would be hard to give a definitive response.
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